It’s become the catchphrase for describing the struggle of college football programs to become bigger and better than their counterparts. Perhaps it’s an irreverent term since, among other competitions, it even more commonly describes an antagonism between two or more nations to have the best armed forces. Perhaps Americans most identify with it as that political term because it served as a description of the source of the tension between the United States and USSR during the decades-long Cold War.

The origin of some catchphrases are more easily traced than others; for instance, it’s rather well-known that the term “fiscal cliff” used on Capitol Hill last year was coined by House Speaker John Boehner. But tracing where “arms race” as a football term came from?

Good luck finding out. CBS News’ 60 Minutes used the term in documentation of the struggle found in the college game but didn’t actually explain its roots. Despite its ambiguity, the phrase has been used to describe many particulars of the general competition between college football programs. That includes facilities.

This post features the recent developments among four Pac-12 teams to upgrade their provisions in the continuous battle to attract recruits and assure they are efficiently trained and pampered after actually committing.

USC (John McKay Center), Oregon (Football Operations Center), Arizona (Lowell-Stevens Football Facility) and Utah (Football Center) are those who have made the most recent rennovations — all within the last year — in the western BCS conference. Rankings of the facilities follow an assessment of three common themes among them: player development resources, luxuries available and how they influence the program’s image. (It should be said right away that Oregon and USC’s complexes have been rated elsewhere as two of the 10 best in the NCAA.)